


Always on my mind

by robotjellyfish



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Canon Setting, M/M, Spoilers for S5, shance, the shance is subtle but this is shance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-07
Updated: 2018-03-07
Packaged: 2019-03-28 08:54:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13900605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/robotjellyfish/pseuds/robotjellyfish
Summary: Shiro calls out to Lance from the shared mindscape and although they are in the midst of a battle Lance cannot leave him. He has to go to Shiro, he has to hear what the man has to say.





	Always on my mind

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers for season 5. This is just a little drabble of what might have happened when Shiro called out to Lance. I've been thinking too much about that scene and I wanted to write something down.

“Lance! Lance, listen to me!”

 

Lance hears the urgency in Shiro’s voice, the desperation even and he knows something is wrong. But what?

 

Why would Shiro call out to him? Had he noticed something that meant they were in danger, that they weren't going to win this fight? Had Lance done something to compromise them?

 

Fear grips Lance’s chest, and he finds it hard to breathe. The rush of energy buffeting him, Voltron's power, doesn't help either. To Lance, it's like swimming against a wave that's trying to overwhelm him and wash him away (he may be the pilot of the Red lion now, the guardian of fire, but his element will always be water).

 

The swell of power rages. It roars around him and pushes him back. He can't hear Shiro.

 

“What?” Lance shouts desperately because Shiro is trying to tell him something important and he doesn't want to let the other man down. He doesn't want to be a disappointment yet again.

 

Shiro is still there steadfast in middle of the strong current that flows around them. He's not wearing his helmet, Lance notes, he can see Shiro's mouth moving, but he can't catch the words, and the force of Voltron is drawing him back, taking him back to the fight, his friends.

 

They need him.

 

But Shiro is here. The others have left, but Shiro is here. What if Shiro has somehow gotten trapped in this space? Was that why he was the last to appear? Lance can't go back without Shiro. They'd be doomed without him.

 

He takes a deep breath, dives into the flow of power and fights against it with every fibre of his being. He fights against the current that tries to wash him away, and he goes to Shiro, following the tentative, weak thread of familiar energy that draws him towards the Black Paladin, because Shiro is calling out for him and he has to go to him.

 

Lance emerges with another gasp sucking in big, greedy lungfuls of air. He is no longer in the fast flowing shared mindscape of Voltron, but he is not in the Red lion either.

 

Looking around, he finds he is in a dark place. There is what looks like a galaxy of stars above him, and the floor reflects the beautiful view, and although there are stars above him, everything is illuminated with a dark purple glow. This place is different, the air is heavy and ominous, and the power here doesn't flow. It fills the space, posses every inch of it and seems to extend on for eternity. He finds it hard to breathe.

 

It reminds him of Zarkon. It bore the same oppressive energy, and he shudders. Was this Zarkon's doing? Had he took hold of Voltron again, and that was why Shiro got trapped in that other space?

 

But Zarkon was dead. It was impossible….

 

“Lance! I'm so glad to see you.” Suddenly Shiro is standing there, right in front of him, and Lance struggles to breathe for a whole other reason, but he knows where he is now. How could he ever mistake the Black lion for Zarkon's power? He feels a little bit ashamed of himself for it and says a silent apology to Black.

 

Shiro is actually smiling at him as if he's relieved to see him, happy even.

 

‘ _Well, that's new.'_

 

Shiro reaches out and catches Lance’s hands. He holds tight, like a drowning man begging to be saved. He's still not wearing his helmet, although he's wearing the rest of his armour, so Lance can see how pale and drawn his face is. He looks shaken and beyond tired but his grip on Lance's hands is firm and steady, he doesn't tremble.

 

Lance sucks in a breath and is pretty sure his heart stops when Shiro steps close.

 

“Lance I have to tell you something very important. It's going to sound strange, but please believe me,” Shiro squeezes his hands tighter and pulls Lance closer.

 

“Sh-Shiro?” Lance stutters. It's the only thing he can say with his mind reeling from everything that's happening. This Shiro is a completely different man to the tense, highly strung leader that's been with them since they found him again. This is not the Shiro that snapped at Lance.

 

He doesn't know how, but Lance knows this.

 

Before Shiro can say anything else, the rush is back. The pull of Voltron's power swirls around Lance's ankles, seeping into the Black lion's mindscape like water leaking through cracks.

 

It takes Lance a few moments to realise Shiro's lips are moving, slow and purposeful. There is an evident weight to every word, he's speaking slowly, and clearly, so Lance will understand, but once again Lance can't hear anything.

 

“Shiro. I'm sorry, I can't hear you.” Lance is the one gripping Shiro's hands tighter now because already, he's let the other man down. He's failed.

 

Shiro visibly deflates. His shoulders slump, and he crumples forward. Lance can see the disappointment burning in his eyes.

 

“I'm sorry,” Lance says again, and he truly is. His breath hitches in frustration because he can't do something as simple as hear what Shiro is saying.

 

Shiro smiles, even though he looks crushed, and let's go of Lance’s hands. For a moment he fears Shiro is going to leave him there to drown (and he doesn't blame him), but then Shiro’s hands are cupping around his helmet. He holds Lance's head close to his and presses his forehead against the other man's closed visor.

 

His lips are moving again, and Lance can almost fool himself into believing that he can feel the heat of Shiro's breath against his lips. He still can't hear anything.

 

Lance's face crumbles up, and his breath hitches again because Shiro is suffering and he can't do anything to help. Despite everything, Shiro smiles, a bittersweet smile. The gentle grip on his helmet tells Lance that Shiro doesn't blame him. It makes him want to cry all the more.

 

The pull is getting stronger, rising higher around him and he finds it hard to stand, without Shiro anchoring him there he would have already been washed away. It doesn't seem to affect Shiro at all, who stands there steadfast in front of him.

 

He is being pulled away from the other man, and there's nothing he can do to stop it.

 

**No!**

 

Lance grabs Shiro's wrists and holds on tight, but even though Shiro is right there he feels almost intangible, and Lance's fingers slip away unable to get a proper grip.

 

Shiro smiles, defeated. He bends his head closer for just a moment, says something else and then his lips seem to brush against the crown of Lance's helmet, as if on purpose. Lance's eyes widen, but he's being dragged back into the flow of energy before he can figure out if that was a figment of his imagination or not.

 

“No! Shiro!” Lance reaches for him, frantic, his arms flailing as he tries to fight against the current. Shiro is still standing there unaffected and smiling mournfully as if he's lost something precious. As if he's lost all hope.

 

“Shiro, I'll come back for you!” Lance promises even though he's not sure where 'back' really is because Shiro will be there when he wakes up back in Voltron. Won't he?

 

There something deep in Lance's chest that's not so sure.

 

Shiro's eyes widen for a moment, taken aback at the conviction in Lance's words. His expression softens and, at the very least, he no longer looks like he's completely given up. It's painful to leave him there, looking like that but Lance is already so far away. Shiro is fading from his sight, he leaves the dark mindscape and falls into the breathless rush of Voltron.

 

Everything is quiet for just a moment, an utter dead silence that is not natural.

 

“We're back baby!” he hears Hunk's victorious exclamation, slowly drawing him back to his senses.

 

“Attack the cruiser!” Shiro orders the team.

 

Lance's eyes open.

 

So Shiro is with them. Of course he is.

 

...wait, why was he worried about Shiro?

 

He blinks sleepily trying to clear his head, trying to remember but whatever it is is slipping through his fingers, and it's like trying to cup water in his hands. Impossible to contain.

 

It's gone.

 

“Wait. What about that tree-beast?” Allura demands her attention divided between their enemies.

 

“Guys, we've got incoming!” Pidge warns, focusing their attention.

 

And Lance wakes. They're in the middle of a battle. Voltron is in danger. The team is in danger. He has to get back to the fight.

 

He has no time to think about it now, but a seed of doubt plants itself at the back of Lance's mind.

 

Shiro.

 

There's something wrong with Shiro.

 

He has to help Shiro.

 

He has to...save Shiro?

**Author's Note:**

> Hope that you enjoyed this. Please consider kudos or comments to feed a hungry author. Also hmu on tumblr or titter if you ever want to talk about theories like this because this is all I'm gonna think about until S6 airs.


End file.
